You often hear stories of truckies who began in the transport industry because they grew up with their dads on the road.
Adam Care is much the same, but he tells the tale of his father’s rediscovered truck, after it went missing for 10 years.
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He first laid eyes on the 1972 Kenworth K125 in 1977, when his dad purchased it to run interstate between Melbourne and Brisbane full time. He had it until 1987 when it was sold.
As a young boy, Adam was surrounded by the hum of its engine, learning the ins and outs of what made this machine tick.
The truck wasn’t just a tool for his father’s transport business, but part of the fabric of his childhood.
After the truck sold, it drifted out of Adam’s life for a while, but even then, he could never shake the bond.
“When I was a teenager doing my apprenticeship, my dad’s Kenworth came into the shop, the motor was blown up,” he says.
Growing up with it, Adam knew this truck back to front, though he was still in the process of learning his apprenticeship, he ended up working on the truck for its new owners.
They ended up pulling the motor out and placing a smaller 892 Detroit in.
“I always kept an eye on its whereabouts, but it then went missing for about 10 years and I had no clue where it went,” he says.
“Then all of a sudden, it turned up in Ararat Victoria, in the hands of a man named Steve Stackpoole.
“I made the four hour trek over to see the Kenworth and explained to Steve how that truck was my fathers.”
Steve wasn’t willing to sell it, but five years went by, and an email changed everything…
“I received a message from Steve saying he was going through a divorce, and it was time to let things go. So, I went straight over and bought the Kenworth.”
After years of investigating and quietly hoping, Adam was reunited with his family truck, and now, it was finally time to get to work.
Funnily enough, the smaller Detroit he placed in the Kenworth all those years ago as an apprentice was still in there, so he started off by replacing it as he knew it would be “totally destroyed”.
“I rebuilt a V12 engine and got the interior all done up, and then started to put everything back to how it was meant to be,” he says.
“I then had a big truck accident and broke my back in five places, I got knocked around quite a bit and it took me a while to get back to work.
“I went back to working as a mechanic and would use the Kenworth as a toy at home. I had it for another 10 years, did a few loads with it and played around a bit, it wasn’t a full time truck anymore.”
Adam was then told that a few folks were looking for a V12, and he knew he was never going to get rid of it to just anyone, it had to go to the right person.
Dean Hurlstone recently secured the big rig and plans on pulling it back to bare chassis rails to transform it back to its original glory.
Currently it features a 13 speed road ranger gearbox, Eaton differentiator and torsion bars suspension.
The 1972 Kenworth is no ordinary truck. It’s one of only six factory-built Australian cabovers fitted with a huge 12V7IN Detroit diesel engine.
“This is the only complete one left now, so I wish her all the best as she receives a long deserved ground up restoration by her new owner, I can’t wait to see the final product.”
Originally the Kenworth was white with teal and brown stripes, but in ’77 Adam’s dad received it as a red and white rig. It has stayed this way up until this very day.
“It’s going back to its original MacFie’s Transport teal and brown colour again,” he says.
“It’s a well-known Aussie truck those MacFie’s V12’s, and there were only six ever built, this is the last one in Australia.”
Adam has carried forward his father’s legacy, along with some history of Australian trucking.
But with the truck’s restoration underway, the Kenworth legend is now able to live on reborn, and return once again, to its prime.
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